A request has been made to have one thread where members can list current Petitions they are enthusiastic about.

This thread is not for discussion - simply for giving a link to where an appropriate Petition can be viewed and signed.

With metta,Chris

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

He turns his mind away from those phenomena, and having done so, inclines his mind to the property of deathlessness: 'This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.' (Jhana Sutta - Thanissaro Bhikkhu translation)

He turns his mind away from those phenomena, and having done so, inclines his mind to the property of deathlessness: 'This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.' (Jhana Sutta - Thanissaro Bhikkhu translation)

On 11 July, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon derecognized the staff unions representing the organization's 65,000 staff, many working in dangerous locations and war zones. He now refuses to negotiate on safety and security, welfare and conditions of service. This comes against a background of 555 staff attacked and 200 killed in the last ten years and in an organization supposed to uphold international human rights and labour rights conventions. If the UN stops applying these to its own staff, why should governments bother to uphold worker rights? The UN's staff unions are campaigning for Ban Ki-moon to reverse his decision by the end of the year.

The rights of all workers around the world are on the stake, and the ILO is on the verge of losing its credibility!

The mainstream media is not informing about this matter. So far only the International Trade Unions seem to be concerned. You can kindly help by sharing this information in other forums where you participate.

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

I just received this email, and I think it is worthwhile to have a look on it and take steps

The nuclear power industry is suing Germany because it's phasing out its unpopular nuclear power stations. Tobacco giant Philip Morris is suing Australia for billions of dollars in lost profits because the government took action to reduce teenage smoking. And pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is suing Canada for $500 million, just because Canada has laws to keep essential drugs affordable.

Worst of all, these cases are happening in secret international courts to which only corporations have access.

Now, details are leaking of two global trade pacts that would massively expand the power of corporations to sue our governments. Countries in the EU to the US and from Australia to Canada are negotiating right now -- and some could be just days from signing up.

Thousands of corporate lobbyists are helping to write these secret pacts -- but the public isn't allowed to see them. Global governments know that the public won't like these corporate power grabs, so they're hoping to keep them under the radar until it's too late to stop them. But if we can raise our voices now, we can expose these corporate charters and kill the deals forever.

Our governments are meeting right now to lock a deal. Sign the petition to demand they reject any secret treaties that massively increase the power of corporations in our democracies.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are called trade deals, but both are corporate wish-lists aimed at attacking everything from environmental protections to affordable medicines to internet freedoms. Worst, they give corporations impunity from governments or citizens that want to reign in their power.

In fact, they're probably the most important international treaties you’ve never heard of. The TTIP involves the US and 28 EU member states, while the TPP is being negotiated between the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and other Pacific countries -- making these pacts truly global in scope.

There's lots wrong with the these trade deals, but the unaccountable systems they would set up to allow corporations to sue governments are one of the most frightening. If they are signed, future laws designed to protect consumers, our health, and our environment could be overturned in secret courts by corporations that claim the laws harm their profits -- and there is nothing we or our elected governments could do to stop them.

Corporate lobbyists and government insiders are keeping the text of the deals secret because they know that if the full details got out into public view, we wouldn't like what we saw. But we already know enough through leaks to know they are really bad. We can't let them sail through without public scrutiny. If we raise a storm now, we can expose the TTIP and TPP for what they are, and make it politically untouchable.

He turns his mind away from those phenomena, and having done so, inclines his mind to the property of deathlessness: 'This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.' (Jhana Sutta - Thanissaro Bhikkhu translation)

I know I'm asking a lot, here, but: Please share this as much as you can, via whatever medium you choose. This has got to stop.The more people know about this - and take action - the more it will help.Go to the 'Amnesty International' page link below, and fill out the protest letter. You can even add your own message to the existing pre-written one.Keep it polite. But please - do it. You don't need to subscribe, and you don't need to pay anything. But if you do nothing, this woman will certainly pay with her life, for things we take for granted, here....

You will not be punished FOR your 'emotions'; you will be punished BY your 'emotions'.

Pay attention, simplify, and (Meditation instruction in a nutshell) "Mind - the Gap." ‘Absit invidia verbo’ - may ill-will be absent from the word. And mindful of that, if I don't respond, this may be why....

He turns his mind away from those phenomena, and having done so, inclines his mind to the property of deathlessness: 'This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.' (Jhana Sutta - Thanissaro Bhikkhu translation)

He turns his mind away from those phenomena, and having done so, inclines his mind to the property of deathlessness: 'This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.' (Jhana Sutta - Thanissaro Bhikkhu translation)

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---